Monday, June 7, 2010

roasted veggies are one of my favorite things to eat. i think i could eat them every day and probably not get sick of them. there are some veggies, or i guess roots/tubers, that i prefer on their own like beets or yams, but my favorite combo is carrots, red potatoes, and brussel sprouts. the best part about them is that they're almost impossible to mess up.

roasted veggies:

(this is what i did, but i encourage ignoring my vegetable ratios and doing what looks right and appetizing to you)

2 medium/large carrots, cut into roughly 1/4 inch disks

2 medium/large red skinned potatoes, diced into chunks that were near the size of the carrots

3-4 cups of brussel sprouts, thoroughly cleaned, trimmed of tough stems, and halved or quartered depending on how large they are (the goal is to have all the vegetables at apx the same size to avoid overcooking some while undercooking others)

1/8-1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2-1 tsp salt and 1/2-1 tsp pepper (season to taste)

preheat oven at 350 F. mix all ingredients so all veggies are well coated and seasoned, and cook for 45 minutes stirring occasionally. crank up the heat to 400 F and continue to cook for 20 minutes or until nicely browned.

note: the brussel sprouts will shed outer layers when trimming them. do not discard these leaves, they make awesome chips when thrown in with the batch.

roasted beets:

i used 2 giant beets and diced them up fairly small (they take a long time to cook, so the smaller you cut them, the faster you'll eat them)

1/8-1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2-1 tsp salt and 1/2-1 tsp pepper (season to taste)

mix all the ingredients and spread them on a cookie sheet in roughly 1 layer. if you pile them on top of each other they are less likely to develop a nice outer skin, and their texture will be homogeneous all the way through. the cook time is the same as the veggies above, with an additional 10 minutes at 400 F at the end.

note: when roasting beets, i try to make as many as possible because they are great to throw on spinach salads or to add as a side to whatever i'm eating for dinner.